StarCraft: High Yield
by Nokamiso
Summary: Two years after Kerrigan's Brood War, the Zerg Swarm descends upon the Kel-Morian Combine.  The Terran and Protoss response to this threat is predictable: war.  But the reasons behind this invasion are far more sinister than mere infestation.
1. Chapter 1

**StarCraft: High Yield**

**Chapter 1**

**Char – 2 years after the Brood War, year 2502**

The Queen of Blades looked out over the broken surface of Char. The scatterings of the Zerg swarm, her swarm, were agitated. They had lain restless, waiting for the time to strike.

The entirety of the swarm was prepared from the dog-sized zerglings to the fearsome spine-shooting hydralisks; the gargantuan ultralisks to the explosive flying scourge. They had lain dormant for nearly 2 years, resting, preparing. Their carapaces had hardened under the volcanic activity of the planet, now they looked once again to rise up strike fear into the hearts of the Terrans and Protoss once again.

Kerrigan, the fallen ghost, the Queen of Blades, was ready to kill them all.

**Korhal –Terran Dominion Throne World, Korhal System**

Arcturus Mengsk was not having a good day.

The Emperor of the Terran Dominion, the ruler of hundreds of worlds with nearly unlimitless resources, could not find a single ship out in the void of space. Mengsk missed the battlecruiser James Raynor had stolen from him nearly 2 years ago, but still the traitor eluded him. Besides, it was not just out of nostalgia that Mengsk longed after the _Hyperion_, it was because of the numerous secrets locked away aboard the vessel.

Mengsk had to find that ship. But he still had to find an appropriate general. He needed to replace the great, fallen, Edmund Duke. And when the last report came in, Mengsk discovered that his chosen candidate had been killed in a skirmish with the infernal Protoss.

A small red light began blinking next to Arcturus' intercom. He sighed and pressed the button next to it. "What is it?" he snapped.

"General Gemui of Theta Squadron is here to see you," the voice on the speaker said.

Mengsk folded his hands in a steeple and leaned his head against them. Gemui was supposed to be out on patrol with the rest of Theta Squadron out by the rebel factions. What was he doing here? Mengsk's mind rapidly flew through hundreds of possibilities, before arriving at the one that seemed most likely.

"My lord?" the voice on the intercom said.

"Send him in," Mengsk ordered. He realized he had been thinking for several minutes. _I can't get caught up like that again, _he thought. He wrote down a note to practice his thinking and put in his desk just before the general walked in.

Gemui walked with the rigid motions of a subordinate approaching a superior. He came to a stop several feet away from Mengsk's throne and saluted. His hand fell to his side at a small gesture from Mengsk.

"So the Protoss have attacked the Kel-Morian Combine, have they?" Mengsk said, studying Gemui's face.

"Actually, sir, it's not the Protoss, it's the Zerg," Gemui replied, standing at attention.

Mengsk's eyes flew wide in shock. "The Zerg, you're sure? Perhaps a slave brood controlled by some rebels?"

"No, sir. It was a full brood. From some of the markings on the behemoths, it seemed to be the Nidhogg Brood. They came from an unknown vector and struck at the Kel-Morians before seizing the entire planet. Several rescue ships made it off, but not many. The Kel-Morian leader, General Mah Sakai organized a counter attacked, but was forced to flee. Theta Squadron was also forced to retreat, under the Zerg onslaught."

Mengsk rested his head against his hands once again. Instead of considering all possible scenarios like before, he already had a plan. It formed in his head as he compared troop strengths and enemy responses. Less than ten seconds later, he raised his head and looked at General Gemui.

"I'm sending Theta Squadron to deal with this infestation. You'll be re-equipped and sent out to destroy the Zerg. Gamma Squadron and Alpha Squadron will also be sent with you. Gamma Squadron will deal with evacuating civilians while Alpha Squadron will deal with the inevitable Protoss response. We both know that they will glass the world."

"On a side note, I want you to dispatch several Ghosts to do some, reconnaissance at Kel-Morian Headquarters on the planet, discreetly, of course. Any questions?"

"One, sir," Gemui said. "What do we do if the Kel-Morians try to stop the investigation?"

"Well," Mengsk said casually. "It's about time they joined the Dominion."


	2. Chapter 2

**StarCraft: High Yield**

**Chapter 2**

**Shakuras – Dark Templar Homeworld, Unknown System**

Artanis looked toward the stars, yearning for Aiur. The Protoss homeworld was ravaged after the rampaging Zerg Swarm had come. Through their hierarchy was broken, the Zerg still maintained control. The Zerg would be there for years to come, since the remnants of the refugees refused to glass their own homeworld to destroy the Zerg.

Artanis turned toward the far off nexus near the horizon. Even today, after nearly two years, he could sometimes not believe the hatred between the two Protoss factions. The Nerazim, the Dark Templar, took in the Protoss from Aiur, even though it was the latter that drove the Nerazim off Aiur in the first place!

Artanis shook his head in shame. As executor of the refugees, he knew that he had to foster the relations between the two groups, but he was out here, far beyond the limits if the nearest base. He had to get back and help organize the construction of living spaces for the refugees of Aiur. Even though two years were nothing for a species who could live centuries, the last two years had seemed an eternity. Artanis was constantly mediating between the factions, carefully balancing on a knife's edge, keeping a war from breaking out.

He got back to the nexus and was immediately bombarded with questions about the construction. He waved them off and headed to his quarters, and relaxed. He had just lain down, when he noticed a slight distortion in the air behind his door. Like a watery cloak dissipating, Zeratul, the prelate Dark Templar, stepped into the dim light of the room.

Artanis started and got up, his mind filled with questions. "My friend, where have you been? What news do you have from Aiur and Raynor? What…?" He stopped as Zeratul raised a hand.

"I will tell you my friend, in due time. But I have a matter of grave importance. Kerrigan has raised her head again and has struck the Terrans. She has decided for an all-out invasion, not a stealthy subversion. One planet has fallen to her might, and it is up to us, the first-born of the Xel'Naga to stop the Swarm yet again."

Artanis stood silently as he digested this. His mind whirling throughout what Zeratul had said, Artanis pondered what the Protoss could do. "We are not a united people, Zeratul," he began, "but there is much promise. Perhaps this could help unite the Protoss into a single powerful people once again."

Zeratul's head leaned to one side before responding. "True, and assisting the Terrans will foster relations with them, helping us to drive back the Swarm."

"Then it is decided?" Artanis looked at his friend.

"Yes," Zeratul said, "We head toward the Terrans to help them drive off the Zerg, Second-Born of the Xel'Naga."


	3. Chapter 3

**StarCraft: High Yield**

**Chapter 3**

**High Orbit over Moria – Galactic Fringe, Koprulu Sector**

The Matriarch looked over her Brood as it fell from space. Thousands upon thousands of overlords flew from the massive behemoths, preparing to drop the Zerg Swarm on the heavily defended planet. Their armored carapaces protected them from the solar radiation while the gas-filled sacs allowed the gentle flight.

Already, the Matriarch felt the attacks on her brood. Through the eyes of an overlord she saw cloaked Wraiths unleash a volley of missiles on its escorting mutalisks before fleeing. Not all of the Wraiths escaped, as the quick attacks of the mutalisks destroyed two of the Wraiths. The Matriarchs displease was felt throughout the Swarm as more mutalisks flew out to protect the slow, lumbering overlords.

The Matriarch felt as the first drones arrived on the planet. The overlords that had dropped them were spreading creep, quickly setting up the Zerg base. The Matriarch felt pleasure at this small success, before feeling intense anger at a group of patrolling Vultures that annihilated the fledgling base. More mutalisks flew down to the planet, this time escorting the hundreds of guardians that had just emerged from the behemoths.

Several more hatcheries had gone up while the flight headed down to the surface. While several were destroyed by Terran patrols, some were already producing zerglings, the most basic of Zerg strains. While they would take about a day to mature, the Matriarch took pride in this small victory. These warriors would soon ravage across the land and destroy the puny Terrans. Her fury rose once again as another base was destroyed by a patrol.

However, the flight of mutalisks and guardians had finally reached the surface. While the Goliaths began to fire their rockets at the mutalisks, the devastating acid of the guardians chewed through the walkers armor. The screams of the pilots pierced the air as the mutalisks moved on to the Vultures. The entire patrol was killed in less than a minute.

From what the Matriarch could tell, the Terrans were retreating. Through the eyes of an Overlord, she saw a flight of Valkyrie Frigates retreat to a city, while from a mutalisk she saw a platoon of marines take defense in a series of bunkers at a military base. From thousands of viewpoints, she saw the destruction of Terrans. She saw them retreating, she saw some hold their ground. A group of mutalisks flew after a squad of marines heading to a city. As they approached firing range, several missile turrets sprang to life and destroyed the entire wing. The Matriarch roared in anger at the loss.

She herself began the descent down to the surface. While the other queens could spawn the thousands of larvae that this task would take, only she could create the new ones that the Queen of Blades had given her. Only the Matriarch could test these beasts in combat.

As the Matriarch touched down on the surface, she felt drones coming to help her move into the hatchery where she would produce the monstrosities that would destroy the Terrans once and for all.

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I think that's pretty good so far, what do you think? Remember, I'm just a lonely person looking for attention on the big thing called the internet. R&R please!


	4. Chapter 4

**And because I'm feeling so generous, here's chapter 4! Yeah! Now don't bug me for like a month or so.**

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StarCraft: High Yield

**Chapter 4**

**Moria System, Outskirts – Galactic Fringe, Koprulu Sector**

General Gemui stood at the helm of the battlecruiser, _Mestaler_, as it emerged from sub-warp. From his position, he saw the tactical screens light up with incoming data. On one screen, a database on Moria popped up, capital city Argo, population, 3.5 billion. Another screen showed major resource nodes across the planet, while another show weather patterns. The center console displayed a tactical map of the system, with Green representing Theta, Gamma, and Alpha Squadrons and yellow showing the Kel-Morian forces. However, red covered a large portion of the planet and surrounding space.

"Sir," the nav officer said. "We have arrived in system. Comms are tracking multiple hostiles. Hostiles are currently converging on our position. Orders?"

"All crew to battle stations, put us on Red Alert," the general calmly said. It would do no good for him to panic against a simple wave of Zerg.

The tactical officer spoke up. "We have three wings of Zerg flyers incoming. Two waves of Mutalisks, One wave of Scrourge. Total estimated Zerg forces converging at two-hundred and fifty."

Gemui's eyebrows briefly raised in surprise. "Launch Valkyrie Frigates. Have our Science Vessels on stand-by for irradiation."

The tactical officer and comms officer both gave curt nods as they carried out their orders.

"Zerg flyers, 500 kilometers and closing."

"Have all Valkyrie Frigates move to 50 kilometers out and prepare missiles," General Gemui responded.

A few tense seconds passed as he watched the Frigates move out to the specified distance. By the time they reached the position, the Zerg were 350 kilometers out.

"Now, have the _Columbus _began irradiating the largest clump of mutalisks in range," the general's stern voice called out.

"Yes, sir. The _Columbus _has begun irradiating," the tactical officer responded. Gemui watched out the viewport as he saw a mutalisk torn apart by the radiation. He could see the radiation burns on some of the others on a viewscreen.

"Sir, Zerg flyers are 200 kilometers out. Orders?" the comms and tactical officers looked at their general apprehensively.

"Have them move forward and engage," the general said as he continued. "Launch 5 wings of Wraiths. Have them move to escort the Frigates. Also, have the _Columbus_ and any other Science Vessel irradiate any stragglers."

"Yes, sir. Frigates have engaged Zerg Swarm." Gemui looked up at the tactical map as it zoomed in the the current fight. He saw more than half of the red dots go out in the initial volley, while just three of the blue dots winked out of existence.

"Have all ships move forward. Stay at least 5000 kilometers from the Zerg Swarm. I don't want any surprises."

"Yes, sir. Any additional orders?"

"Yeah," the general responded in a more casual tone. "I want all ground troops in Gamma Squadron ready to drop on the ground to evac those civvies. I want Alpha in reserve, about 7000 kilometers away." Gemui gestured to the tactical map, which had panned out to show the Dominion advance on the Zerg. "Have Alpha on stand-by. At the first sight of the Protoss, I want them ready to deal with them."

As the officers hurried in their duties, the general stood there amongst the organized chaos. Gemui looked out the view screen at the Zerg flotilla spread out over the Kel-Moria capital world. "Boys," he said in a calm, slow voice, full of serenity. "We just found ourselves a war."

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So what did you guys think? That last line is sort of iconic, isn't it? "We just found ourselves a war." Muahahahaha! I will kill you all. Oops, I didn't say that. Oh, and for all of you wanting to know what happens, you're going to half to wait. I'm consulting another writer for rights to use his character in the story, so... you'll just have to wait. Until then, En Taro Shakuras!


	5. Chapter 5

Okay, okay, I'm sorry about that alert. I just added the story before I put in this A/N, and, well I couldn't just do that, now could I?

So yes, yes, I deleted the chapter, _**I KNOW**_, before anyone could read it. No one's that fast and determined. Oh well... I will be releasing this ahead of schedule, so, YEAH! And if someone did read it before it was deleted, you are now my favorite fan.

Oh, and props to Phear me. His character, Kyle Darex is mentioned in this chapter. He wouldn't answer me, so insert disclaimer here about Kyle Darex.

Insert standard disclaimer here, and enjoy!

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General Gemui woke with a start. He clutched the sheet that covered him, drenched in sweat. The nightmare flashed before his eyes, visions of horrible new strains of Zerg tearing apart the ship…

He closed his eyes and shook his head. It was just the stress of the upcoming battle. Other than skirmishes like the one two days earlier, all was quiet.

Gemui started towards the bridge. His mind wandered through the past few days. He had determined that the Zerg defenses were far too powerful for initial drops. However, sporadic drops were possible and had occurred with growing frequency. However, the majority of them were never heard from again. Kyle Darex, the captain of Theta Squadron's Wraiths, had reported only yesterday that the Zerg were forming a defensive screen far too tight for Dominion forces to break through.

The general arrived on the bridge. Small, curt salutes were offered his way before he waved them off. He gazed out the viewscreen in front of him. The Zerg Armada was still sending troops down to the surface. He shook his head in wonder at the sheer amount of Zerg held in those behemoths.

The comms officer looked up at the general and said, "Sir, I'm getting a lot of interference from something. It not on the ground, nor is it a malfunction. It actually seems to be coming…"

Gemui frowned at his officer. It wasn't like him to fade off. "Well? Where is it coming from?"

The comms officer lowered his eyes to the viewscreen. "It seems to be coming from the Zerg."

Gemui glared at his officer for even suggesting that kind of idea. The Zerg couldn't cause that kind of interference, definitely not at this. Behind him, money exchanged hands.

Gemui looked back up at the viewscreen. There did seem to be some sort of disturbance in the Zerg Swarm. He say something materialize on the _other _side of the swarm. He looked at the tactical officer and barked, "Get me visuals on that disturbance. I want it fully sweeped."

"Yes, general." The tactical officer began enhancing the image. Whatever the object was, it was moving far too fast to lock onto. The tactical officer rewound the footage, and freezed the framed. The ship came into clear focus as it stopped moving on the screen.

A Protoss Observer.

Gemui stared at the frame for a few more seconds, then proceeded to give out orders. "Prepare for a full attack on the primary Zerg Swarm. The Protoss will be arriving soon; as soon as they do, we attack."

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Yes, I know my chapters are kind of short. That's just how they're written. I just cut off when the story gets to a good point, not dragging the chapters out to 8000 words, like I know some people do. Now thats all fine and dandy, but I prefer to keep each chapter kind of short, so I'm not sitting down, reading for hours on end. You know what I mean?

Oh, and, uh, if any of you like Shawdowrun, could you send me a character sheet? Not your current character, but a standard guy with, say, between 600 - 1000 BPs in him? I'm writing double Shadowrun stories, and there is a near hundred percent chance that your characters will appear in them.

Oh, and R&R, please. I know alot of you out there aren't reviewing. I know because my traffic logs say so. So just review, please. It's my fuel. The reviews don't have to be positive, or negative. They don't even have to be about my story. I'm just a narcissist who needs attention.

SO HIT THE **COMPOSE REVIEW BUTTON **ALREADY!


	6. Chapter 6

**So, SHABAM! The main Protoss protaginist, Executer Selanis, showcases in this chapter. This chapter is a bit before the rest, happening approximately at the same time as chapter 3. Yeah, a bit of a jump, but that's the way it wrote itself. Oh, and currently I'm under house arrest by none other than the fearsome Queen of Blades herself, Sarah Kerrigan.**

**Kerrigan: Correct.**

**Nokamiso: In order to appease her, she is making me give her air time. But I'm putting it at the end, because all of you guys want to read the story!**

**K: WHAT? NO YOU DIDN'T YOU LIT-**

**Transmission Interupeted.**

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StarCraft: High Yield

**Chapter 6**

Shakuras, Nerazim Homeworld- Unknown System, Koprulu Sector, Galactic Fringe

3 days earlier

Executer Selanis strode amoung the the vehicles preparing for transport. Artanis had instructed him in what to do when arriving at the Terran world, but even so, all of the Protoss were ready before the first word was said. All the Protoss were ready to cleanse the Zerg from the galaxy. Now was their chance to deal a heavy blow to the Zerg.

A dragoon crossed Selanis' path as he headed toward the nexus directing the loading. He shook his head sorrowfully at the fallen warrior. Few remained, and since the Temple of the Dragoons was lost on Aiur, the dragoons were fading out of use. No more dragoons could be created. Selanis knew that some of the refugees would believe that he was joyous that no more dragoons could be used against the dark templar.

He felt sorry for the few that believed that. How could any of the Nerazim fell happy at the death of fellow Protoss? The Dark Templar, or Nerazim as they were properly called, felt the death of each Protoss warrior just as much as the Protoss of the Khala.

Selanis arrived at the Nexus. He walked to the top of the nexus and gazed over the field of assembling Protoss Warriors. Each one was prepared to die in order to defeat the Zerg. He sighed to himself. How many would die to stop this infestation of the galaxy?

He looked up and saw his flagship, the _Star Gazer_, arched downward beautifully before resting right outside the nexus. He walked down and boarded the ship. The void ray was powered by a single khydarin crystal, larger than the ones in the carriers. The fact that a capital ship was able to land and take off again was a testament to its power.

The _Star Gazer_ returned to space. The Executer watched the ascent of the ships from the planet. Hundreds of ships flew in perfect formation. Selanis motioned for the aedile to open communications to the entire fleet.

_My brothers,_ Selanis said, addressing every member of the fleet. _The vile Zerg has set about an invasion of Terran space_. He felt the displease at the thought of the Terrans amoungst numerous Protoss.

_They are a young race, full of promise. However, Kerrigan is determined to crush them and use them to destroy the galaxy; her ultimate goal is to destroy us. But we will not let this happen. If we allow the Terrans to fall, Kerrigan will only gain momentum. The Queen of Blades has already set her eye on us._ Selanis felt every member of the fleet focus on him. _We WILL not let her stop us. She is a vile stain on the galaxy. Brothers, let us put aside our ancestral differences. We were a great people. The Xel'Naga which forged us all did not separate us into factions. We did that. They left us because of this. They thought to create the Zerg. They did, and now they swarm, destroying everything. WE, the first-born, WILL WIPE THEM OFF THE STARS!_

Selanis felt cheers go up all over the fleet. His officers had motioned that the ships were all prepared for sub-warp. He gave the ordered, and the entire fleet disappeared in a flash of light.

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**Transmission Re-established**

**K: -ND THAT'S WHY I'LL KILL YOU!**

**N: Uh, you're back on.**

**K: Oh. Well, then...**

**N: You're sorry?**

**K: Only if the reviews mention me.**

**N: Fine. You heard the scary lady. In your review, please mention her. HELP!**


	7. Chapter 7

Nokamiso - Yeas. I know. It's been awhile since I updated. I've been busy with a bunch of stuff. Since I updated my sis's story about two minutes ago, I figured I might as well update.

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StarCraft: High Yield

Chapter 7

Sub-warp, Protoss Expeditionary Fleet – En Route to Moria System, Koprulu Sector, Galactic Fringe

Selanis stood motionless, watching the battling fleets of Terrans and Zerg. The observer sent out two days before the fleet left Shakuras was sending video feed to the fleet. Selanis' head tilted slightly to the left as he analyzed the video before him.

Thousands upon thousands of Zerg swarmed the orbit of the planet. From what other observers had sent back, that planet was nothing particularly special, in fact, it seemed barely habitable. _What, _he wondered, _could the Zerg want with this place?_

He noticed that more behemoths were warping into the system. Before they could discharge their horde of flyer, several battlecruisers fired their Yamato Cannons. Two behemoths disintegrated under the nuclear blasts; one limped to the protection of the Zerg Armada.

A helmsman announced, "We are preparing to exit Sub-warp. All Templar, report to posts."

The Executor acknowledged the helmsman. He returned his gaze to the screen. Two flights of wraiths flew in towards the wounded target, as well as three wings of a Terran fighter Selanis had never seen before. Curious, he leaned in slightly to watch the unfolding spectacle.

The Terran ships quickly flew towards the crippled behemoth and unleashed a massive volley of missiles. Even as the missiles closed the distance between the fighters and the behemoth, the observer analyzed the missiles and showed the data on screen. Lanzer Torpedoes. Selanis glanced at another screen as the data was complied with other reports. When he glanced back, the behemoth was torn in half, obviously dead. However, the small skirmish was far from over.

From the carcass of the gargantuan Zerg came a multitude of Zerg flyers. In addition to the mutalisks and scourge that exited the carcass, several squid-like creatures flew out. Selanis locked his eyes on them. What could the Queen of Blades have created?

The scourge attack was disrupted by the fast Lanzer Torpedoes of the unknown Terran fighters, while several nearby Valkyrie Frigates utterly destroyed the Mutalisks. Even as the Wraiths and the other ships approached for the kill, the squid-like creatures attacked. They spat out a slime that covered several ships before a volley of spores launched. The spores shredded the approaching ships. The zerg flew out from the dead behemoth and began attacking.

The helmsman announced, "We will arrive in the Moria System in 1 minute."

Selanis' eyes narrowed. He prepared the ship-to-ship communications for orders.

Meanwhile, the Valkyrie Frigates launched their missile salvos, but to no avail. Selanis watched as the zerg destroyed the Valkyries before moving towards the battlecruisers. Missile volleys from the battlecruisers took out a few, but the majority continued on. The zerg had almost reached the battlecruisers when several of the zerg exploded. Selanis looked at the unfolding scene before him, and saw that two science vessels had arrived and were tearing the zerg apart with radiation.

Finally, the observers had identified the unknown units from tapping into Terran comms. The Terran fighters were Vikings, while the squid-like zerg were corruptors. Other observers reported that Terran units called Banshees were harassing Zerg bases on the planet, while Zerg Brood Lords were annihilating Terran cities.

Selanis folded his hands together and stared at the images before him. These new units would prove a challenge for his fleet. Selanis had recognized the symbols on the Terran ships as that of Alpha Squadron. The Zerg had unusual markings, but nothing strange.

Selanis blinked in annoyment as one observor went offline. A rogue scourge had taken it out. Three days of work, and a decent amount of vespene gone in a flash. Compared to a neglible Zerg loss. The Executor's hand slammed on a console causing a few sparks to fly. None of the crew even flashed a look.

The Executor leaned back in the chair; he couldn't afford to lose his temper. The Protoss had lost enough to stray emotions. He had to remain calm and decisive.

One of the helmsman looked at Selanis. "We are exiting Sub-warp in three... two.. one.. Now exiting Sub-warp."

The stars outside the viewports rematerialized. The sight above the planet before the Protoss fleet would have been described as beautiful if not for the raging battle in orbit. Already, Selanis could see Zerg defenders flying to meet the Protoss head on. The Terrans on the other hand, seemed to power through the Zerg Armada, right where the defenders had left.

_This would be an interesting war, _Selanis thought.

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Nokamiso - There we go, chapter 7. Now I'm caught up, all three fleets are in the Moria System. And StarCraft 2 is almost out! I also need some OC's for A Band's Tale, a WWZ fic. Just send them to me and I can **GUARENTEE** that he/she/it will appear in a chapter in the indeterminate future!

En Taro Shakuras!


	8. Chapter 9

Hi everyone! Yes, I know, its been a while. I said that I would have a chapter up in a week or so and that has changed into nearly two months. I'm sorry. I have had alot of stuff happening, so I think I'll list it all here:

1. I went to summer camp for a week.

2. Got StarCraft 2. Played non-stop for appx. 72 hours with two 3-hour breaks for sleep/eating. Achieved Rank in Silver league.

3. Played StarCraft 2 against friends in neighborhood. Declared cheater.

4. Convinced friends to play on team. Dropped nuke on teammate then annihilated the other two players.

5. Spent 2 days writhing in pain from punches and kicks.

6. Packed for college.

7. Went to college. (WOOO!)

8. Set up annoyingly glitchy internet connection.

9. Played StarCraft 2 against Hall Mates.

10. Declared cheater.

11. Not beat up.

12. Realized I haven't updated for two months after History class.

13. Realized I have 5 chapters lined up.

14. Wrote this A/N.

15. Posted this online.

So there you have it. I have had a lot to do. Now read and review the next chapter that is completely different from the last chapter. Enjoy.

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**StarCraft: High Yield**

**Chapter 8**

**Battlecruiser _Mestaler _Docking Bay 5, High Orbit over Moria, Koprulu Sector, Galactic Fringe**

General Gemui looked over the small task force standing at attention. He had not had much good news that day. The _Columbus,_ a science vessel, had picked up sub-warp emminations that indicated the Protoss fleet was no more than 10 hours out. Of course, he hadn't the time to contemplate that since Captain Darex's Wraithes weren't doing particulary effective against the new Zerg flyers. The Corruptors, or squidies as he called them, were dying fast, but the scourge were still taking out his fleet.

Gemui really wished that this new assignment would go better.

The ten soldiers before him were among his most expensive and experienced assets in all three of the squadrons under his control. Each was handpicked for this suicide mission. Each one of the psionic warriors had fearsome reputations among those they hunted, which was to say, none.

He glanced at his attendants who all stood near the exit door. They seemed nervous of the deadly warriors in the room. One went so far as edging towards the door to exit as quickly as possible. Gemui made a mental note to reprimand him and demote him when this was done.

The general walked slowly along the line of them till he reached the end. Still facing away from them, he began their briefing.

"As you already know, the Zerg are looking for something down on the planet. Your mission is to get down there and find it. If possible, retrieve it and evac it out of there. The Zerg will know you are coming. Intelligence knows they can track psionic signatures and track them."

"Military intelligence," one of the soldiers said sarcastically.

He turned sharply and glared at them. _Humor, _he thought. _Good._

"You will have no air support, no ground support. You will be cut off from all communications for the next week. You will have no tech support, no area to replenish ammo and supplies. If a soldier on either side sees you, they will most likely open fire. If you are caught, you will die in interrogation."

Gemui began walking down the line before stopping halfway and turned to face them. "If it is impossible to retrieve the item, you will salvage as much of it as possible before transmitting on a secure channel that will be given you on your way down. That channel will give you command of one tactical nuclear missile that you will direct down on the site of the item and destroy it."

The general turned away from the psychics before continuing.

"Officially, that is your mission."

With his back still to the group of psychics, he waved his attendents out of the docking bay. Once the last one exited and the doors sealed shut, he turned to the group and continued.

"Unofficially, your mission is to infiltrate the Kel-Morian Ghost Academy and retrieve all data possible. You are free to kill anyone in your way, be they friendlies or hostiles." Gemui glanced along the ten of them, eyes stopping at each on the way. "You are free to use any means necessary to complete these objectives. He gestured towards a door on the far wall. "In there are all the weapons and supplies you need. Run out and shame on you. Pack your gear and prepare for departure in thirty minutes. Dismissed."

The general stood and watched as the ten soldiers casually strolled towards the armory door. They strolled nonchalantly towards the armory, privately chatting in twos and threes. He began to exit the docking bay before deciding against it.

These soldiers were likely to never make it off the planet. They faced insurmountable odds from the Kel-Morians and the Zerg. Even his own troops were likely to fire upon them. Their mission was likely to be further complicated from the inbound Protoss and the loss of more off the fleet.

He would stay and watch them off. The ten ghosts and specters deserved some sort of recognition for a suicide mission anyways.

* * *

YEAH!

I finally got around to posting a new chapter. And I'll be updating the rest of my stories shortly, mainly because LilyKilaraSilver finally finished The Thief.

And to anyone who wants to SC2 friend me, I'll put my name and code in the next chapter, hidden, because that's how I roll.

En Taro Shakuras!


	9. Chapter 10

Dododododo...

Wait what was I doing? Oh yeah, I realized that I hadn't updated in a while, so I decided to update! Yeah! Uh, sorry about my other stories, it's just that I found my Pokemon Yellow version and decided to play that. Did the Mew glitch got really happy and...

You don't want to hear me rambling. Read and REVIEW!

* * *

StarCraft: High Yield

Chapter 9

**Primary Hive Cluster, 1 Mile beneath capital city Argo, Moria, Koprulu Sector, Galactic Fringe**

The Matriarch nestled deep in the ground. A mere three days into the invasion and over half of the planet was covered in creep. Thousands of hives dotted the landscape of the planet and little resistance remained in the path of Zerg. The queen had spawned numerous queens, each of which would produce specific strains of Zerg creatures.

The efficient compartmentalization allowed each hive to focus on producing one strain. While for other races, have each base produce only one type of unit could be disastrous, the Zerg had many options.

First were the crawlers. The new organisms could crawl around and root itself into the ground and attack, much like its predecessor, the colonies. The Matriarch thought about the differences, before dismissing the thought; the new crawlers were much more versatile.

Then there was the Nydus system. Previously, the underground tunnels could only transport between any two, but with a few genetic twists from Overlord's transportation sacs, the simple travel system was now a complex tunnel network.

The Terran defenders had thought that since each base only produced one type of Zerg, it would leave huge gaps to exploit. The Matriarch had taught them otherwise.

She glanced down at the larva squirming about; soon each would taste the blood of the Terrans. Before the Matriarch could give anymore thought to victory, she felt a painful impulse run through her head.

The queen saw through the consciousness of the fliers in orbit to see a startling discovery: the Protoss had arrived. Hundreds of the alien's ships had arrived in a mass warp jump, similar to the Terran arrival. The Matriarch made the Zerg equivalent of narrowing eyes, before screeching at this set back. The Protoss would be warping in thousands of ships soon.

Before the Matriarch left Char, the Queen of Blades had given the Matriarch samples of thousands of Zerg strains; the amount was near limitless. However, rather than try out a new strain in battle, the Matriarch decided to fall back on a proven strain feared by all sentient races: Scourge.

With a small mental twist, she contacted the queens responsible for aerial defense and shared the bio-strain with them. The Matriarch felt as thousands of larva began morphing into the volatile strain. She was pleased to note that some of the queens were tweaking with the Scourge genome; perhaps they would come up with something useful and unexpected.

As the Matriarch turned her gaze skyward yet again, she saw a small Terran strike force entering the atmosphere. Some sort of large transport with a strong escort of wraithes. She almost casually set an entire hive after them as she turned back to tinkering with the genome of a creature Kerrigan had shown her, one that would be field tested in this battle. But first, to successfully grow one…

**Hercules-class Dropship _Perceus,_ Moria atmosphere, est. height 4.5 kilometers, Moria, Koprulu Sector, Galactic Fringe**

The ten psychics were not the only soldiers in the dropship. As Ryan, Specialist 23852-005, looked up and down the corridor from his seat he saw dozens of marines, strapped into seats against both walls. He knew that if he bothered to look, all the other corridors would be the same. Ryan looked forward to see his partner, Ren. Specialist 23852-006 had been his partner since training, and the two would continue until they died.

Ren, instead of inspecting her surroundings, had rested her head against her shoulder and fallen asleep. Any alarm that said to drop would probably wake her, and if the ship was destroyed, there would be nothing to worry about. So instead of worrying about any cataclysmic event, she had snitched a tranq from a passing medic and dozed off.

50 SCVs waited for touchdown in the main loading bay of the dropship. Around them stood a myriad of soldiers and vehicles, ranging from experimental M.U.L.E.s to Arclite siege tanks. They stood in the bay nervously, looking around as though a nearby tank could fire upon them at any time.

Outside the _ Perseus_, a flight of twenty wraithes flew in a wide formation around the unarmed dropship. Captain Kyle Darex, the leader of the squadron began scanning the dropzone when they were two minutes out.

"Command, we are on approach vector," He said as the dropship flew over a canyon. "We are negative on hostile contact. The _Perseus_ is undamaged and will de dropping in," he glanced at the chronometer, "90 seconds out, Command."

As the dropsite came into view exactly 12 seconds later, Captain Darex began transmitting again. "Command, Dropsite appears clean, nearest Zerg Hive is 7 kilometers out. Zerg flyers are-, wait, what was that?" he said as he brought his ship around in a tight turn. As he looked out the cockpit, he saw hundreds of Zerg flyers heading directly for the dropship! Somehow, they had managed to fool the squadrons radar and snuck up using the canyon as cover.

"All wraithes, turn and engage Zerg flyers. Activate cloak on my mark," Darex said confidently as the Zerg swarm approached. When the Zerg were just outside of missile range, the captain gave the order. The 20 wraithes disappeared from view and unloaded a full volley into the swarm. The Zerg crumbled under the weight, many disintegrating in mid-flight. Broken mutalisk wings fell from the sky. Scourge erupted and took out their own allies. Darex watched as a dead guardian dropped through the Swarm and killed dozens of other Zerg. Burst lasers, normally meant for use against ground targets, shot into the mass and scored as many kills as the missiles.

However, the Zerg were not the only losses. Darex observed helplessly as a Scourge randomly crashed into a nearby wraith. He watched as the acid seeped through the ship and destroyed the precious cloaking device. As the ship flickered into view, a single devourer launched a cloud of acid spores at the damaged wraith before moving on. The pilot inside was disintegrated before he could scream in pain. Another wraith had the misfortune of skimming a brood lord. The broodlings had managed to cling onto the ship and tore into the ship with a near fanatical frenzy. When they reached the cockpit, they tore the pilot out of his seat and ate him before the ship crashed into the ground.

Despite the huge number of casualities, the Swarm kept on directly for the _Perseus_. As it was, the Hercules dropship was unloading its cargo onto the red Morian dirt. 5 SCVs had begun constructing what appeared to be missile turrets, while another ten were constructing bunkers. The remaining 5 had begun constructing base infrastructure, but it was too little, too late.

As the flyers closed in on the landing party, thousands of C-14 spikes tore into the Swarm. But, a far more deadly threat was beneath the massed marines. Just as the flyers reached them, the ground beneath the landing party erupted. Two ultralisks unburrowed, taking out over half of the marines. Several swipes from the deadly Kaiser blades, and the entire company was killed. As they burrowed, the flyers took out what forces remained and returned to their hive.

On a nearby ridge, Specialists 23852-005 and 23852-006 watched as the Zerg headed south east, towards the capital. Unspoken agreement was reached between the two and they headed towards the ruined city. As Ryan looked up, he saw the wraithes decloak and head back towards the fleet. As he looked back towards his destination, he saw Ren staring at him. Raising an eyebrow, Ren obliged.

"Remember what the general said? Yep, we found ourselves a war."

* * *

Yay, cliche sayings!

Now I've been checking how many hits I've been getting. There are a lot more hits than reviews. Somewhere around HUNDRED TIMES more hits than reviews. Most of those reviews have been from Son of Napalm. Now, he could use a little help reviewing this story. You people could just take a little time to write a review and boost people's egos.

Mine included.

Thanks for reading, I hope to post in a week or so!

En Taro Shakuras!


	10. Chapter 11

WHOOO!

I UPDATED!

I know I said that I was going to update in a week, and that didn't turn out so well, cause I had a paper due, then another paper due, and things just all happened at once. Yeah.

So here's Chapter 11 of StarCraft: High Yield. No Protoss here, but some things hinted at in this chapter may adversely affect the Protoss later.

And please review. I don't care if you're reading this story a month after it's posted, each review encourages me to write.

Read on.

* * *

**StarCraft: High Yield**

**Chapter 11**

**10 kilometers southwest of Argo, Moria, Koprulu Sector, Galactic Fringe**

**Four hours after the destruction of the _Perceus_**

A dozen Morian marines walked along a treacherous mountain pass as they headed to their bunker. The leader raised his hand to call for a brief stop. As he did, the rest readied their arms and took up stations in the cave they had reached. The leader looked briefly at his HUD and noted that they were just a kilometer from the bunker. He glanced around at his men. A few had broken out ration bars and were eating them in a slow, measured manner. He noted that two marines were at the cave entrance and that the rest all had their firearms pointed in the general direction of the entrance. The leautinent drew a ration bar for himself out of a container on his armor and chewed it slowly.

As he finished the bar, he signaled for his men to get ready to move. When they were, the marines filed out, leaving only the imprints of their boots in the cave.

As soon as the marines left, a shadow detached itself from a wall in the back of the cave. It approached the entrance and looked at the marines, who were just out of sight. The shadow ducked back inside the cave then shimmered into existence as Specialist 23852-005 deactivated his cloaking device. He moved to one of the cave's wall and pushed a rock out of the way. Ryan gently shook his partner, Specialist 23852-006, Ren, awake from were she lay on the floor.

Ren's initial reaction was to punch Ryan then groggily stand up. She glanced around the cave, yawned, then stared directly at Ryan.

"What was it, like, ten marines or so?" she said as rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

"A dozen," Ryan replied, lightly massaging the arm Ren had punched. "Heading towards a bunker from what I could get off of their HUDs."

"Huh," Ren said. She stretched her arms and stumbled forward. She reached another rock and pushed it out of the way. Ren grabbed her pack and put it on before throwing Ryan's pack at him. Ryan caught it and shouldered it in one motion.

"I was thinking it would be a good place to get more info on the Ghost Academy. The bunker should also have plenty of ammo, and I know how much you like explosives," Ryan stated.

"I do like explosives…" Ren said with a thoughtful expression. She frowned and sighed at the thought of her lost demolition equipment on the _Perceus_.

"So, we're heading there?"

"Why not," Ren replied. "Anything else happen while I was out?"

Ryan tossed a ration bar to Ren which she caught and proceeded to eat. "A flight of mutalisks passed over along with some of those flying squid things. No ground movement. I did get radio transmissions from Beta and Epsilon teams. They're both looking for Gamma and Alpha, but aren't making any progress. Looks like just the six of us made it."

Ren began walking towards the cave entrance and looked towards the sky. "They're called corruptors."

"What?"

"The squid-like Zerg flyers. They're called corrupters."

"Did you here me? Gamma and Alpha teams didn't make it." Ryan stared at Ren in slightly shocked wonder.

"I heard. Their disappearance does little to affect the mission. We have to continue on."

"Ah, Ren, you haven't changed a bit. You were always so cold hearted."

"Not possible, my metabolism keeps my internal body heat at a constant 30.2 degrees centigrade. My heart is functioning perfectly fine."

Ryan sighed and walked out of the cave heading in the same direction as the Morian marines. They would be almost there now. If he and Ren hurried, it was possible that they could make it to the bunker before Zerg patrols could take notice of an activated bunker. He looked at his partner, then started on the path. Ren closely followed him on the mountain pass.

**Primary Hive Cluster, 1 mile beneath Argo, Moria, Koprulu Sector, Galactic Fringe**

The Matriarch reviewed the memories from the attack on the Terran dropship. She watched as scourge crashed into the ship from hundreds of angles, as mutalisks soared through the air, as ultralisks communicated with guardians to unburrow and attack. Above all of these points of view, a lone overseer watched, coordinating the attack with lethal efficiency.

She noted each angle of attack, each position of her flyers, and began piecing together the attack pattern of the wraiths. With each passing review of the memories, she understood the formation of the Terran pilots better and better. As she watched them, she didn't notice immediately that the drones had brought her what she had commanded.

The drones had dropped off their cargo with silent efficiency, and left to fulfill their other duties. One stayed behind and alerted the Matriarch that their mission was complete and joined the other drones on their exodus from the chamber.

The Matriarch, having concluded her observations turned to the four cocoons that the drones had brought. Without hesitation, she brought down a claw and impaled the nearest one. Small tendrils extended from her claw and intruded into the organism. The tendrils began emitting slight electric shocks, causing the cocoon to writhe as if in agony. With each movement came a flood of information. She basked in the knowledge from the dead creature before filing the knowledge and creature away for future use. After completing this process she moved to the next one.

This one she picked up and placed in some acid. The acid dissolved the cocoon and its contents completely in a matter of seconds. The Matriarch studied the goo and drank it. She felt as the knowledge was still received, but that the visual data was conveyed through spectacular means. She saw the colors vibrantly, even though she knew that the colors were rather mundane. The Matriarch did not fail to note that the auditory data was sub-par, and thus dismissed this method for future use.

The Matriarch approached the third cocoon and placed it in a tube that led to a birthing chamber. She would have one of the other queens deal with it. Perhaps the animal could be used for food for the swarm.

She lifted the last cocoon and examined very carefully. The Matriarch peeled away the fleshy cocoon and discarded it. She noted an exoskeleton on it which she removed and had a drone carry away for study. Finally she laid the limp organism down and cut into it with her claw. The Matriarch looked at each organ, looking at it as a child would look at a dead bug. After her examination, she called forth the biomass constructing the chamber to consume the dead creature. The Matriarch left the chamber towards the nesting grounds to inspect the eggs.

As the chamber consumed the being a drone wandered through the room. It stopped briefly to watch the room devour the animal. All the drone could see of the being was a Terran head with mechanical implants indicating that the dead being was a ghost.

* * *

Nokamiso: So here we are. The Matriarch has caught poor Alpha and Gamma teams (in case you didn't get that) and has taken information from there lifeless corpses. Their psionic powers could enhance the powers of the swarm and-

Kerrigan: THERE YOU ARE!

N: WHAT? HOW DID YOU FIND ME?

K: That is besides the point! You are disrupting the canon of the StarCraft Universe! This cannot occur!

N: No, no, no. Nothing adversely affects the StarCraft lore or anything. I promise.

K: BAH! We shall see puny Terran.

N: Uh, okay. So all out there, REVIEW!


	11. Chapter 12

**StarCraft: High Yield**

**Chapter 12**

**Morian Moon, Moria System, Koprulu Sector, Galactic Fringe**

The Protoss fleet formed a perimeter around the moon as Warp Prisms hurried down to begin the vital preparations. As soon as the first prism reached the surface, it deployed 10 probes and deployed into phase mode. The Probes scooted around and began warping in structures. The probes began exploring the moon and started to harvest the rich mineral fields found there. By the time the Executor arrived, the base was firmly established.

The _Star Gazer_ gently rested onto the ground near the primary nexus. Selanis strode confidently out of his ship, quickly approaching the large, golden building. The Executor looked around the base, seeing for himself the bustling activity that brought the Protoss forces to this moon. Floating Stargates spun around their axes, Gateways began their transformation into Warpgates, the matrices of the Robotics Facilities busily fielding the growing Protoss army.

Selanis permitted himself the Protoss equivalent of a grin before turning back to Nexus. He entered it promptly and sought out the nearest holo-screen to direct the fleet.

As Selanis reached the screen, he quickly glanced over it before approving the work of the probes. He directed one probe towards a site that showed the planet of Moria in all its splendor. There, he proceded to instruct the probe in what to do.

The Executor directed the small robot in the construction of an immensely powerful power grid, in order to produce an experimental Protoss weapon: a plasma cannon. The fearsome technology was based off of Xel'Naga designs, hopefully it would be effective against the Zerg.

The probe scuttled off and proceded to warp in pylons to provide the power needed to control a plasma cannon. Selanis watched to ensure that the probe was doing its job correctly before turning to a different section of the holoscreen. As he stared to gice orders to the fledging base, an urgent transmission came from the _Nephrine,_ the fleet's largest carrier.

_We are under attack!_, Spencis, the commander of the ship bluntly stated. _Zerg Scourge are annihilating our fleet. We aren't expecting to survive much lo-_ the transmission cut off in a burst of static.

Selanis' eyes narrowed at this turn of events. The Queen of Blades had decided to attack so soon? Well, the Zerg weren't the only ones with a fleet. With a few deft hand movements, Selanis moved in two wings of his fleet to engage the Zerg. He contacted the leaders of each.

_The Zerg cannot be allowed to reach the surface. If they do, all will be lost. Our base is not yet firmly established on this moon, and we do not have a large enough fleet to engage the full might of the Swarm. Go my brothers, and meet the Zerg in glorious battle._

Each of the commanders gave a simple salute before cutting transmissions and engaging the Zerg. Selanis mused over these circumstances as he pieced together what was happening.

The Zerg had indeed attacked, but so soon that only basic forms were presents. From what the prelate knew of Kerrigan, she did not like to commit her forces piecemeal. So a cerebrate or some intermediary was acting here, not the Queen of Blades. That much was comforting. However, these scourage had to be taken care of. If attacks like these were left unchecked, Selanis would have no fleet left to command.

Selanis observed the Swarm smash against his fleet until the reinforcements he sent reached the battle. Blasts of plasma quickly turned the tide, until the only Zerg remaining were the shreds of flesh, floating through the vacuum of space.

Selanis let out a mental sigh of relief at the destruction of the Zerg. There were few Protoss loses, but Selanis would not let another attack like this happen. He directed the computer to trace the attacking swarm to it's birthing place. Crystals throughout the Nexus lit up, powerful psionic energies flowing through the structure. Soon, the computer would have an answer for him.

That is where, Selanis decided, he would attack first.


	12. Chapter 13

Ya know, I feel like I forget to do these notes alot. Oh well. Summer is obviously here (forget what the calendars say) and that means I have time to update. Yay!

Uh.. Insert standard disclaimer here, and please enjoy.

For your reading enjoyment.

* * *

StarCraft: High Yield

Chapter 13

**9 kilometers South-by-South-West of Argo, Moria, Koprulu Sector, Galactic Fringe**

Ten marines approached the bunker complex, moving from cover to cover as they did. The two most forward marines raised their rifles to take aim at the door, while the others cautiously scanned the skies.

The lieutenant of this squad strode confidently to the door of the abandoned bunker, then motioned for his men to form up on him. As the marines scrambled into position, the lieutenant raised his boot, and kicked down the door.

The marines poured into the complex with an ease that spoke of years of experience. They secured the room, then slowly spread out to check the rest of the complex. As the marines began their sweep, the lieutenant headed towards the Ops room to radio for extraction.

Two of the marines stayed in the first room, training their massive guns on the door, in case of the Zerg. One of the two, twitched slightly. His partner spared a quick glance at him, then nodded. Both of them had seen it. Just a faint shadow, but it had moved.

The one with a hawk painted on his visor moved forward. His partner, who had a blank visor, watched him carefully. Hawk reached the door, and cautiously poked his head out. Nothing.

He turned around and looked at Blank. "Nothing. Must have been an animal." Blank grunted in response.

Blank glanced down at his gun, and grunted again. Hawk sighed. "I got it. Just fix the damn thing."

Blank began to disassemble the rifle. The parts were laid out neatly before him as he meticulously examined and cleaned every piece. After his inspection, he quickly began to put his Impaler Rifle back together.

Suddenly, Blank heard a faint gurgle. He finished his re-assembly of his weapon and spun around. There he saw a black-suited figure holding a knife that was embedded in Hawk's helmet. Blank lifted his weapon faster than the eye could see and pulled the trigger.

_Click._

Blank pulled the trigger again.

_Click._

A second figure seemed to materialize out of the air, a few feet from him. As the hexagonal cloaking field vanished, Blank saw another similar figure, holding up something.

His firing pin.

"Missing this?" she said, for the figure was definitely female. She then lifted a very deadly looking pistol and aimed it almost casually at Blank's head.

Blank almost had enough time to think that he should have double checked his weapon during the reassemble, and that he should have gone for his pistol instead of trying to fire twice. Almost.

Instead, all he had time to do was hear a soft pop and the crinkling of his visor as a bullet entered his brain.

* * *

Ryan looked at Ren, gave a soft nod, then proceeded to extract his knife from the dead marine. Ren strode over to the other marine and stripped him for parts. After Ryan had retrieved his knife, he did the same to the marine he had killed.

"Anything?" he said. "All I got here is a pistol and a few grenades. No extra ammo. They must have cleared out some Zerg that we missed."

"Nothing here either. All this one had was a P1000 pistol. 2 shots. Not worth keeping. He was down to thirty four rounds in his rifle as well. Zero grenades. In addition, the radio seems to be malfunctioning."

Ryan shook his head at Ren's methodical search. "This one's radio was malfunctioning too. Can't be a coincidence. Zerg, or sabotage?"

Ren removed herself from the dead marine and walked to the hallway were they had seen the other marines go. "Check the others first. Need more data."

Her partner joined her at the hallway, looking down the corridor. "Agreed. Our cloak should last long enough to take these out. Weapon silence?"

Ren glanced over her shoulder to look at Ryan. "Yes. We need to conserve ammo for the Zerg."

"Okay then," Ryan said. "Let's clear this bunker."

* * *

**10 miles South-West of Argo, Moria, Koprulu Sector, Galactic Fringe**

_Find. Find. Find. Find._

The zerglings sprinted along the mountain pass, their claws gripping into the rocks. They paused briefly at a cave to regroup, waiting for the slower members of their hunting party to catch up. The zerglings pranced about the cave, examining it in its entirety.

_Search. Search. Search. Search._

Two hydralisks slithered into the cave, followed by a defiler. Once the defiler entered the cave, all the Zerg present froze, and looked attentively towards the higher strain. The defiler seemed to shudder slightly then relayed its orders to its pack.

_Dead Zerg. Towards the sun. Find. Kill the Terrans._

As one, the zerg flowed towards the entrance of the cave and towards the bunker that the Marines had gone to.

_Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill._

* * *

Around two minutes after the Zerg left the cave, two hissing noises started from the back of the cave. Two black suited figures appeared, and stepped away from the wall.

"That's the direction Delta went, right?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Why does it seem that we're always following Ren?"

"Uh, 'cuz she's the highest ranked ghost in the fleet? She is technically our boss, ya know."

"Guess we should go help them?"

"Yeah, hope the Zerg go a bit slow though. I have a really big headache from forcing all of them to ignore us."

* * *

So hear we go. The Zerg are hot on the trail of Delta squad, while some of their buddies go to help them.

AND...

I know their are people out their reading this. I know who you are. (READ: No I don't) So, you had better review. And please, don't nit pick on typos. Everyone makes them. Seriously. BUT.

REVIEW.

Or I'll kill off someone. (READ: I was gonna kill them off anyways, but now it's your fault if they die :D)


	13. Chapter 14

So here I am, Nokamiso. I stand here above the corpses of these fallen foes and- Say what? This isn't the time for my victory speech? Fine. Be that way.

Anyways, here is the next installment of my story, a bit shorter, but closing a bit of ends before I move onto another race.

So, for your reading enjoyment, here is the next chapter of StarCraft: High Yield.

* * *

**StarCraft: High Yield**

**Chapter 14**

**9 kilometers South-by-South-West of Argo, Moria, Koprulu Sector, Galactic Fringe**

Ren stood above a marine, lieutenant if she read the Morian markings correctly, in the Operations room of the bunker. She reached down and, with a slight grunt, pulled at a nasty looking knife from its resting place in the back of the marine's suit. Ren frowned, and tried again. With a final frown, she focused her mind on the knife, and forced her will on the knife.

With that, the knife flew across the room, spinning before embedding itself in the doorway, next to Ryan's head.

"When was the last time you had your medicine?" Ryan said to his partner. He hadn't even flinched at the knife.

Ren cocked her head to one side, then replied. "Right before we departed the _Mestaler_."

"Then, 20 hours?" Ryan said. Ren nodded her head in silence. "You skipped it twice. You know you need those meds."

Ren nodded and reached for a small pouch on her suit. She popped a tab and withdrew a small bottle. She flipped the top off of it, then put it to her mouth. Two small pills fell into her mouth.

Ryan nodded, satisfied. "Ren, you know you need those pills to keep your mind under control. Don't miss your next one."

Ren didn't answer as she put away the bottle. She turned to the console as Ryan approached her with her knife. He pushed the body of the lieutenant out of the way and joined her.

"These patterns. Here," Ren said, pointing at a monitor. "Zerg."

Ryan sighed. "This day just won't get better, will it?"

Ren stalked toward the doorway. "I need to raid the armory. Need explosives."

"Fine, just be back soon. I'm going to search for data on our mission. Meet back in 5 minutes."

* * *

**10 kilometers South-by-South-West of Argo, Moria, Koprulu Sector, Galactic Fringe**

Found.

A zergling stood near the corpse of a roach. Another zergling jumped on top of it, sniffing at its dead brethren. Nearby, the other zerglings jumped about, searching the nearby rocks for anything while waiting for the slower members of their pack to join them. One looked up and saw the lone Overseer directing the Zerg in this region, floating above the rocky terrain.

Wait. Secure. Wait. Secure.

The defiler joined its zerglings, flanked by the two hydralisks. In a brief exchange, the zerglings relayed the information about the dead Zerg. Suddenly, one zergling who was scurrying about the rocks, ran up to the defiler.

Here. Here. Here. Here.

The defiler strode to where the zergling indicated. There, nestled amongst the rocks, were two dead marines. Acid burns disfigured their suits, melting away armor and flesh alike. One hydralisk coiled up a rock, looking around.

The defiler relayed the information to the floating Overseer. Within moments, the pack was given its new orders.

Wait. More. Overwhelm. Wait.

All across the region, the Zerg converged towards the battlesite. The defiler climbed onto a rock to watch them.

Two infestors burrowed their way to the site from the south. Four roaches accompanied them. From the west came thirty banelings escorted by a flight of mutalisks. Then, an ultralisks thundered its way in from the north; amongst its feet scurried a myriad of zerglings, roaches, and hydralisks.

Within 20 minutes this force had assembled. When they had group, the Overseer sent a thought with a direction to them all. However before they were able to move, the Zerg were interrupted by a very sudden occurrence.

Unbeknownst to the Zerg, a single Kel-Morian ghost had stealthily approached them and had used his C-10 canister rifle's targeting laser to lock onto the coordinates of the Zerg gathering point. Shortly after doing this, one of the remaining Kel-Morian Command Centers had relayed the data to the relevant parties.

The Kel-Morian had sprinted away, turning back just in time to see a white flash, followed by a particularly beautiful, orange mushroom cloud rising up from the scorched earth.

* * *

Two figures observed all this from a nearby ridge.

"Well then…." The one said, standing up.

"Yeah….." The other responded, dragging the word out as he stood.

"I think we should follow that ghost. After all, I don't think Delta needs our help anymore."

"… I think you're right. Besides, Ryan and Ren don't need our help. They probably already have a lead."

"Exactly," he said, nodding. "He's probably heading back to his base. Which could be the academy. Which, knowing these guys, could be on top of our objective."

"Okay, then." The other ghost paused, looked around, then said, "After you."

"That blastwave took out our the path up here."

"I know. I was hoping you knew another way down."

The two looked at each other for a long moment, then sighed.

* * *

Whoo!

Yay, I'm not dead! (yet) Ok, I'm thinking about following the Protoss a bit more after this, then the Zerg for a couple of chapters. I dunno, It just sort of feels right.

Until then, En Taro Shakuras!

AND REVIEW! OR I WILL HAVE ZERGLINGS SWARM YOUR HOUSE UNTIL YOU DIE!


End file.
